The Contest - Cultural References

Cultural References

This is the second Seinfeld episode to feature Elaine's fondness for the Kennedy family, the first being "The Baby Shower". JFK Jr., who "appears" in this episode, was killed in a plane crash on July 16, 1999.

Jerry Seinfeld claimed that he had never heard of the song "The Wheels on the Bus" before recording the episode.

The original script featured Jerry watching the TV series Flipper. It was changed due to concerns over music rights.

"The Contest" is referenced in other Seinfeld episodes. The first being "The Outing", where the plot is that Jerry and George are mistakenly outed as gay. During the episode, when George visits his mother, there is a male patient in the hospital, who receives daily sponge baths from a male nurse. Although the winner of the contest is not mentioned, it is implied in "The Puffy Shirt" that George was the winner. However, as the plane is going down in "The Finale", it is revealed that George had actually cheated, therefore making Jerry the true winner. When Jerry asks him why he cheated George simply replies, "Because I'm a cheater!"

"The Contest" is referenced in the "Shaq" episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm (S02E08), in which Larry David and Shaquille O'Neal watch "The Contest" together. Shaq also refers to this episode as his favorite.

In the Family Guy episode "Jungle Love", Peter pays the people of a South American village to re-enact "The Contest" as one of them hums the Seinfeld scene-changing music. A high priestess plays Elaine, but she says "You can't spare one square?", a reference to "The Stall".